Washable garment part



De@ 15 1958 J. K. SUMMER ET AL f' 2,864,093

WASHABLE GARMENT PART Filed Oct. 20. 1954 ATTORNEY 2,864,093 WASHABLE CARMEN T PART John K. Sumner, Plainfield, Philip Surowitz, Somerville, and Elmer J. Yedlick, Westfield, N. J., assignors to Chicopee Manufacturing Corporation, a corporation of Massachusetts Application October 20, 1954, Serial No.

6 Claims. (Cl. 2-243) This invention contemplates garments and garment according t this mventlon, may be washed or dry-cleaned repeatedly tened, lined,

mainly as a resilient lining for shape retention; skirt linmgs, petticoats, stand-up collars, etc.,

etc.,

material contributes to flare shape; as well as articles such as skirts for petticoats which are made up entirely of the resilient nonwoven material itself. These garart from the following description and claims taken together with the drawings wherein:

Fig. 1 is a partially cutaway plan view of a segment of a collar or cuff according to this invention;

Fig. 2 is a somewhat enlarged sectional View along the line 2-2 of Fig. l;

Fig. 3 is a greatly enlarged plan view of a resilient nonwoven material forming a part or cut of Figs. 1 and 2;

Fig. 4 is an edge view of the piece of material of Fig. 3;

Fig. S is a pictorial view of a short hunting jacket according to this invention;

Fig. 6 is an enlarged partial sectional view along the ine 6-5 of Fig. 5;'

piece ofthe of the collar itfed States Pattini dry, flexibility, porosity,

view of a womans skirt accord- Fig. 7 is a pictorial ing to this invention.

In Figs. 1 and 2 of the drawings there is shown a part of a collar or cul according to this invention comprising inner and outer layers 11 and 12, respectively, which der of the part. The interliner 13 comprises a resilient and washable nonwoven material formed from a web or webs of overlapping, intersecting fibers.

of card webs may be preferred since they are generally more uniform in nature fibrous webs of other types. To enhance its resiliency,

it is preferred that the web contain a majority of relatively crease-resistant fibers. similar synthetic materials tory for this purpose. mixed with cellulosc Fibers of wool, nylon, and have been found satisfac- The more resilient fibers may be fibers such as cotton or viscose and a minority The resulting fabric may may be formed in an isoof small viscose rayon fibers. be formed in one layer or it tropic layer with a carded layer on one surface, for inare combined in proper proportions, woven fabric may possess resiliency, strength wet and shape retention, etc., and yet be capable of resisting continued washings and dry-cleanings without appreciable loss of these qualities.

The thermosetting resin may comprise a material selected from the group consisting of melamine-formaldehyde, urea-formaldehyde, phenol-formaldehyde, and dicyandibery latex may compuso a material selected from the group consisting of Buna N, Bun'a S, and chloroprene type latices and emulsions or dispersions of rubbery reslns such as soft acrylate polymers and copolymers. Buna,

than loosely assembled N latices such as copolymers and tripolymers of butadiene and acrylonitrile are known to give good results and the tripolymer of butadiene, acrylonitrile, and methacrylic acid has proven particularly satisfactory. However, Buna S and chloroprene type latices,fsuch as copolymers and tripolymers of` butadiene and styrene and polymerized 2-chloro-butadiene 1,3, respectively, may be used. The soft acrylates are particularly advantageous when the nonwoven fabric component of a garment is to be worn next to the skin or exposed to light and heat in inner and outer garments, respectively. The use of these resins results in softer more supple fabrics possessing particularly good light and heat aging characteristics. Typical soft acrylates which may be employed in forming garment parts according to this invention include ethyl acrylate,- butyl acrylate, octyl acrylate, methyl methacrylate, butyl methacrylate, the copolymers of ethyl acrylate and acrylonitrile and ethyl acrylate and polyvinyl chloride, etc.

To form the aforementioned nonwoven fabric, the thermosetting resin may be applied to the web in a conventional manner, either alone, or in a mixture with the rubbery latex. The resin is applied in the form of a monomer which tends to penetrate the fibers in the web, particularly if these fibers are cellulosic. The monomer then is converted to a polymer or cured in situ by the application of heat in the presence of a conventional catalyst applied to the fabricl with the thermosetting resin. Curing may be effected by heating in an oven at a temperature of at least about 300 F. for a period in the neighborhood of two minutes. Conventional acid catalysts such as diammonium phosphate have proven satisfactory for this use. It is believed that the cured or polymerized thermosetting resin tends to increase the wet strength, resiliency, and shape retention of the individual fibers in the fabric of this invention.

The llatex may be deposited in the web in a mixture with the thermosetting resin or in the second step of a two-step process, as mentioned before. For example, the web containing the thermosetting resin may be impregnated with the latex and then subjected to a temperature of 220 to 250 F. until dry. For maximum dimensional stability or shrink resistance, it also is preferred that the rubbery latex be cured in situ after impregnation. For this purpose, a conventional vulcanizing or curing agent for latices of this type may be added to the web with the latex. The web containing the latex and the vulcanizing agent then may be heated at a temperature and for la period necessary to effect the curing desired. Zinc .oxide is typical of a vulcanizing agent which is effective for this use. The latex and the thermosetting resin may be mixed together or separately with other materials such as conventional textile softening agents or other materials to facilitate processing, before they are added tothe web.

It is preferred that the total combined thermosetting resin and latex solids comprise between 25 and 75 percent by weight of the nonwoven fabric to achieve optimum results. Also, it is preferred that the fabric contain a greater amount of latex than thermosetting resin in order that the latex, which tends to be soft and flexible, may offset the tendency of the resin to be brittle. It is pre- -ferred that the ratio of latex to resin be at least about 1.5 to l and up to about 8 to 1 for this reason. It also is preferred that the thermosetting resin be present in an amount weighing at least about percent of the dry web for best results. However, it may be present in greater amounts up to about 40 percent of the weight of the dry web depending upon the ratio of latex to thermosetting resin present, as described hereinbefore. The amount of latex present normally would exceed the amount of thermosetting resin in the fabric by a fairly substantial amount. For instance, a fabric containing approximately 60 percent latex and 25 percent thermosetting resin by weight of the dry web has been demonstrated to give good results from the standpoint -ofthis invention.

As shown in Fig. 6, the same nonwoven fabric which comprises the interliner of Figs. 1 and 2 may be employed as an inner lining 15 for stiffening and preserving the shape of a mans short hunting jacket of the type shown in Fig. 5, for instance. The inner lining material may be secured in place between an outer weather resistant surface material 16 and an inner conventional lining material 17 by spaced lines of stitching 18, as indicated in Figs. 5 and 6. If it is desirous to use a still thinner outer lay er, the inner lining 15 may be increased in' thickness to provide body to the jacket and improve its shape retention. Thus, savings in the cost of the more expensive weather-proof outer materials may be achieved without seriously sacrificing the shape, toughness, and general durability of the resulting garment. Fig. 7 illustrates another garment of this invention comprising a bouffant skirt containing a resilient inner lining or inner facing, not shown, of the nonwoven fabric of Figs. 3 and 4. The nonwoven fabric may be cut and secured in place in any conventional manner, such as by lines of stitching designed to form pleats, or stitching in way of the waist and hem lines of the skirt. Due t-o the characteristics of the nonwoven material, the skirt will retain its shape as well as its resiliency and bounce even after it has been washed or dry-cleaned repeatedly. l

To illustrate a garment or a garment part comprising the aforementioned resilient nonwoven fabric, itself, the skirt of Fig.l 7 may be considered as being supported by a separate petticoat or under-skirt, not shown, formed entirely of this fabric. A petticoat such as this would provide its own support as well as support for a skirt such as shown in Fig. 7.

Where the garments of this invention comprise liners, inner linings, facings, etc. of the type of nonwoven fabric described hereinbefore, this fabric may be formed of a large percentage of fibers of a material which will possess substantially the same characteristics as the materials making up the remainder of the garment. For example, if the inner and outer plies of a collar or cuff are substantially of nylon, the interliner of Fig. l may comprise a majority of nylon fibers with the result that it may possess substantially the same characteristics as the inner and outer facings of the garment.

Having now described the invention in specific detail and indicated the manner in which it may be carried into practice, it will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art that innumerable variations, applications, modifications, and extensions of the basic principles involved may be made without departing from its spirit or scope. We therefore intend to be limited only in accordance with the appended patent claims.

The invention claimed is:

1. A resilient washable garment part comprising a laminated fabric of a plurality of layers of material, at least one of which is a web of nonwoven material, secured to each other, said web of nonwoven material being comprised of overlapping intersecting fibers containing a thermosetting crease-proofing resin, selected from the group consisting of melamine-formaldehyde, urea-formaldehyde, phenol-formaldehyde and dicyandiamide-formaldehyde resins, and a binder material selected from the group consisting of soft acrylate polymers and soft acrylate copolymers, said acrylate being an ester of acrylic acid selected from the group consisting of ethyl acrylate, butyl acrylate, octyl acrylate, methyl methacrylate, and butyl methacrylate, the proportion of the binder material to the thermosetting resin being at least about 1.5 to 1 and the combined weight of the thermosetting resin and the acrylate being from about 25% to about 75% of the weight of the web, whereby the web is soft and exible and possesses shape retention properties.

2. A resilient washable garment part comprising a Aand possesses laminated fabric of a plurality of layers of material, at least one of which is a web of nonwoven material, secured to each other, said web of nonwoven material being comprised of overlapping intersecting bers containing melamine-formaldehyde as the thermosetting creaseproofing resin, and an ethyl acrylate copolymer as the binder material, the proportion of the binder material to the thermosetting resin being at least about 1.5 to 1 and the combined weight of the thermosetting resin and the acrylate being from about 25% to about 75% of the weight of the web, whereby the web is soft and flexible shape retention properties.

3. A resilient Washable garment part comprising a laminated fabric of a plurality of layers of material, at least one of which is a web of nonwoven material, secured to each other, said web of nonwoven material being comprised of overlapping intersecting fibers containing urea-formaldehyde as the thermosetting crease-proofing resin, and an ethyl acrylate copolymer as the binder material, the proportion of the binder material to the thermosetting resin being at least about 1.5 to 1 and the combined weight of the thermosetting resin and the acrylate being from about 25% to about 75% of the weight of the web, whereby the web is soft and ilexible and possesses shape retention properties.

4. A resilient washable garment part comprising a laminated fabric of a plurality of layers of material, at least one of which is a web of nonwoven material, secured to each other, said web of nonwoven material being comprised of overlapping intersecting bers containing phenol-formaldehyde as the thermosetting creaseproofing resin, and an ethyl acrylate copolymer as the binder material, the proportion of the binder material to the thermosetting resin being at least about 1.5 to l and the combined weight of the thermosetting resin and the acrylate being from about 25% to about 75% of the weight of the web, whereby the web is soft and flexible and possesses shape detention properties.

5. A resilient washable garment part comprising a laminated fabric of a plurality of layers of material, at least one of which is a web of nonwoven material, secured to each other, said web of nonwoven material being comprised of overlapping intersecting fibers containing a thermosetting crease-proofing resin, selected from the group consisting of melamine-formaldehyde, urea-formaldehyde, phenol-formaldehyde and dicyandiamide-formaldehyde resins, and a binder material selected from the group consisting of soft acrylate polymers and soft acrylate copolymers, said acrylate being an ester of acrylic acid selected from the group consisting of ethyl acrylate, butyl acrylate, octyl acrylate, methyl methacrylate, and butyl methacrylate, the proportion of the binder material to the thermosetting resin being at least about 1.5 to 1 and up to about 8 to 1 and the combined weight of the thermosetting resin and the acrylate being from about 25% to about 75 of the weight of the web, whereby the web is soft and flexible and possesses shape retention properties.

6. A resilient washable garment part comprising a laminated fabric of a plurality of layers of material, at least one of which is a web of nonwoven material, secured to each other, said web of nonwoven material being comprised of overlapping intersecting fibers containing melamine-formaldehyde as the thermosetting creaseproofng resin, and an ethyl acrylate copolymer as the binder material, the proportion of the binder material t0 the thermosetting resin being at least about 1.5 to 1 and up to about 8 to 1 and the combined weight of the thermosetting resin and the acrylate being from about 25 to about 75 of the weight of the web, whereby the web is soft and flexible and possesses shape retention properties.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,640,805 Rabell Aug. 30, 1927 2,299,786 Battye et al. Oct. 27, 1942 2,536,050 Pluck Jan. 2, 1951 2,545,952 Goldman Mar. 20, 1951 2,550,465 Gorski Apr. 24,1951 2,676,128 Piccard Apr. 20, 1954 2,689,199 Pesce Sept. 14, 1954 2,719,803 Nottebohm Oct. 4, 1955 FOREIGN PATENTS 9,184 Great Britain July 23, 1914 13,572 Australia Oct. 23, 1928 

2. A RESILIENT WASHABLE GARMENT PART COMPRISING A LAMINATED FABRIC OF A PLURALITY OF LAYERS OF MATERIAL, AT LEAST ONE OF WHICH IS A WEB OF NONWOVEN MATERIAL, SECURED TO EACH OTHER, SAID WEB OF NONWOVEN MATERIAL BEING COMPRISED OF OVERLAPPING INTERSECTING FIBERS CONTAINING MELAMINE-FORMALDEHYDE AS THE THERMOSETTING CREASEPROOFING RESIN, AND AN ETHYL ACRYLATE COPOLYMER AS THE BINDER MATERIAL, THE PROPORTION OF THE BINDER MATERIAL TO THE THERMOSETTING RESIN BEING AT LEAST ABOUT 1.5 TO 1 AND THE COMBINED WEIGHT OF THE THERMOSETTING RESIN AND THE ACRYLATE BEING FROM ABOUT 25% TO ABOUT 75% OF THE WEIGHT OF THE WEB, WHEREBY THE WEB IS SOFT AND FLEXIBLE AND POSSESES SHAPE RETENTION PROPERTIES. 